Date of birth:

October 25th, 1889 (Thorn/Western Prussia, Germany)

Date of death:

February 9th, 1975 (Bad Wimpfen/Baden-Württemberg, Germany)

Nationality:

German (1933-1945, Third Reich)

Promotions:
March 1st, 1942: Generalleutnant.

Career:
1909: Artillerie-Regiment 59;
September 1939 - December 1941: Arko 104;
December 1941 - February 1943: Kommandeur 21. Panzer-Division;
April 1943 - September 1943: Kommandeur 326. Infanterie-Division;
October 1943 - December 1943: Kommandeur 347. Infanterie-Division;
?: Führerreserve;
March 1944 - March 1945: Harko 305;
March 1945 - May 8th, 1945: ?;
May 8th, 1945 - June 25th, 1947: POW.

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Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Awarded on:

January 1st, 1935

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Awarded on:

October 2nd, 1936

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Awarded on:

December 10th, 1939

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Awarded on:

June 5th, 1940

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Awarded on:

November 15th, 1940

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Generalmajor (Brigadier)

Unit:

Kommandeur 21. Panzer-Division / Heeresgruppe Afrika

Awarded on:

December 13th, 1941

The following wartime excerpt describes why Böttcher was awarded the Knight’s Cross…

“During the time period 24.-28.11.1941 Generalmajor Böttcher and his independent Kampfgruppe managed to repel a breakthrough by superior enemy forces with tanks against Tobruk. If this enemy breakthrough attempt had succeeded then the siege of Tobruk would have been broken. However, thanks to Generalmajor Böttcher’s skillful leadership and uninterrupted activity in the foremost line, this was prevented until the arrival of the German Afrika-Korps.”

723rd Award.
Submitted on December 6th 1941.
Preliminary document and decoration on December 14th 1941 to Panzergruppe Afrika.

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Awarded on:

November 19th, 1943

• Photo 1: S. Wieslaw
• - FEDERL, CH., Die Ritterkreuzträger der Deutschen Panzerdivisionen 1939-1945, VDM Heinz Nickel, Zweibrücken, 2000.
  - FELLGIEBEL, W.P., Elite of theThird Reich, Helion & Company Limited, Solihull, 2003.
  - KUROWSKI, F., Knight's Cross Holders of the Afrikakorps, Schiffer Publishing Ltd., Atglen, United States, 1996.
  - THOMAS, FRANZ & WEGMANN, GÜNTER, Die Ritterkreuzträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht 1939-1945, Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück, 1992.
  - WEGMANN, GÜNTER, Die Ritterkreuzträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht 1939-1945, Biblio-Verlag, 2004.
  - Die Ordensträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht (CD), VMD-Verlag GmbH, Osnabrück, 2002